I found this article uneven, but I did agree with a few points. I, like Ms. Paglia, have concerns about the nomination of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State (as I delineated in a previous posting) and I also am apalled at how quickly we and our media have moved on from talking about the atrocities in Mumbai. But, Camille, you blew your entire momentum with this knee-jerk hawkish statement: "I continue to believe that Israel, whose security is directly threatened, has every right to take preemptive military action against Iran." You gotta be fuckin' kidding me! Do you not think that this would be a major international disaster? Do you not think that this could erupt into a full scale nuclear war? Do you not think that, maybe, Iran is hoping for a pre-emptive strike to justify retaliating against Israel? Did you miss the report that says Iran has no nuclear weapons?

Please don't tell me that you're awed or supportive of Sarah Palin. Her Bush-like handling of the English language aside, Palin is nothing more than a power mad diva, whose ovverreach and lust for power is equaled only by her complete dearth of knowledge in regard to governance or international affairs.

And palin as a "rapper" or "beat poet" - that is laughably bad. Dick Cavett's methods of speaking may have, as you assert, atrophied 50 years ago, but at least his writing doesn't smack of "Remember the 60's!?!?"

I think that gay rights is a powerful issue and something that is necessary. I'm thankful that the genie is out of the bottle (or closet, if you prefer) in regard to our push for equality. I do agree that attacking religious institutions is most likely counterproductive. What I do think is necessary in that vein is to re-establish a FIRM seperation of church and state in this country. For too long, fundamentalist churches have been able to elbow their way into forcing their belief systems upon the rest of us- and THAT needs to stop.

How many F-Bombs got dropped in that room. :)

"Who throws a shoe, honestly?"

I blanch at the idea of another celebrity politician. Certainly Kennedy has some understanding of the inner workings of Washington, but what's wrong with choosing someone who has been a dedicated public servant for their entire career? Someone who serves out of a sense of duty, and is uninterested in accolades or the limelight?

I know this question has often been asked, but it bears repeating. Kristol has been wrong on everything, and repeatedly so. If I was as bad at my job as he is at his- I'd be unemployed.

We, and our children, and our grandchildren - got screwed.

Our government, and this administration, played the fear card one last time to brilliant effect. They ripped us off even more.

Many, many individuals (myself included) figured something like this would happen.

What do you expect when you give billions to unethical, greedy individuals, and then expect an outpouring of largesse?

How naive are these idiots in Washington, anyway?

of our nation's revolting inversion of what is morally outrageous.

In a legitimate and reasonable society, sociopaths like Cheney would be dragged out of office and jailed, or justifiably, worse.

But distortions and delusions abound in attempts to justify the moral bankruptcy of this administration and its bloodthirsty, reckless and warmongering ways.

Yet, an individual engaging in a extramarital affair with a prostitute is somehow more worthy of scorn.

Our priorities and triggers for indignation are hopelessly out of sorts in America. We treat the natural, sexual act as a subect of scandal. It is not. It is a normal, natural act common to every post-pubescent human being.

But we Americans, for the vast majority, are completely incapable of dealing rationally with sexuality. We treat sexuality itself as a disease, and leave something that should be common, natural and private up for salacious public "discourse" and warped perceptions.

Instead, we laud and worship brutality in this country. We support military actions and their architects at all cost and under all circumstances. We care not for the deaths we cause, the children we maim, or the societies and cultures we destroy. We are always right, even when glaringly wrong.

We are a culture who can destroy, but fails to create. We brutalize and lust insanely for violence, yet we cannot demonstrate compasstion unless the cameras are rolling. We are a society that teaches each other and our children that it is better to fight and hate than seek to understand or love.

This is the society and country in which we live. Can we honestly be surprised that people like Spitzer get publicly flogged, and bastards like Cheney get off scot free?

She has name recognition! Everyone knows her!

Great. But she doesn't have governing experience. No legislative experience.

Don't we want people who, you know, are qualified for their jobs? Or is it better to have a high school level popularity contest?

I'm tired of it. And I'm tired of political parties making these kinds of decisions solely on "not having to worry about (this) Senate seat in 2010."

Why don't you worry about putting someone compitent into office? Someone who does their job well and is WORTHY of election, or re-election?

No wonder approval ratings are so low.

and a disgrace. I can't believe that there aren't other religious leaders whom Obama could have picked that would have been inclusive without giving a huge middle finger to GLBT Americans like myself.

Obama acknowledged the work that we GLBT people have put forward in his acceptance speech. I really hope he meant it, because I won't tolerate another Democratic president who throws gays and lesbians under the bus the way Bill Clinton did.